


Shopping Cart

by entirely_too_tall



Series: NurseyDex Week 2017 [7]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Grocery Shopping, but i can't be bothered anymore, especially day 3 really that one is a masterpiece, i had a great idea that didn't work in practice, i wrote 6 others that i'm pretty ok with, it's too late into the week, shopping cart pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 18:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11583546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/entirely_too_tall/pseuds/entirely_too_tall
Summary: We watch the shoppers, my fellow shopping carts and I. There is a pair of young parents with their very young child that hold a particular soft spot in my soul.---In which the shopping cart at Nursey and Dex's regular grocery store pays attention to them.





	Shopping Cart

**Author's Note:**

> Day 7 theme: Future NurseyDex
> 
> Find the event and themes [here](https://nurseydexweek.tumblr.com/post/162330031741/nurseydex-week-2017-july-16-22).
> 
> I was struggling for ideas but then Shellybelle put up chapter 3 of [want to be (yours) anyway](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10975248/chapters/24437958) and they were grocery shopping and I remembered one of my favourite poems [Shopping Cart](http://objectsofaffectionmpp.tumblr.com/post/91529726717/shopping-cart) by Krishna Udayasankar and her amazing collection of poetry called Objects of Affection, which is the theme of love told through our everyday inanimate objects, and I was Inspired TM to write a Future Nurseydex grocery shopping with their daughter from the POV of a shopping cart. It didn't work out well, but I'm tired, it's late, I put up pretty good writing for the week, so, here.
> 
> Check Please and its characters belong to Ngozi, I am only expanding upon it for our collective non-commercial pleasure.

We watch the shoppers, my fellow shopping carts and I. At night, when the baskets are put to rest next to us, we all talk about them, exchanging anecdotes and keeping up with our regulars. Those who come in often, we develop a sense of familial fondness for them, especially the ones who treat us well. The older fellows with the wayward wheels suffer many aggrieved yells their way, but there are some who simply hum along to the tempo of their lives and handle us kindly, to which we gratefully serve to the best we can. 

 

There is a pair of young parents with their very young child that hold a particular soft spot in my soul. The paler, freckled one is more easily frustrated by our battered bodies and picks the baskets when he comes in alone, but always mellows out with a soft kiss from his darker and tattooed partner. They move in a synchrony that is borne from a long domesticity together, of having worked through the volatile chemistry between them to settle on warm simmers. 

 

So many other couples never make it past the initial explosive brushes, too wrapped up in themselves be truly open and vulnerable to each other to achieve mutual understanding needed to work a relationship. I have had to be the unfortunate witness to several dissolutions, frequently initiated by the simple selection of the wrong brand or item. Phrases thrown out like “you don’t know me anymore”, “you never knew me at all”, “you know I hate that”. It is a painful experience, and yet, more often than not, when one partner stomps off, the other simply continues browsing the aisles, completing the purchases, as if performing the domestic ritual of grocery shopping will bring normalcy back. Typically though, each returns alone, always alone, and eventually never at all.

 

It has happened once, actually. This couple did split ways over a head of cabbage, but I was not with them that evening. The freckled one brought the cart to pay, fuming, while the tattooed one scowled at the produce section for a long moment before picking up a basket and paid for his own selections. We mourned another relationship lost before us, that night after closing. We always do. Humans are usually unhappy enough, and we do not wish them pain over trivialities, though we know that usually it is these trivialities that are the outlet to hidden hurts finally boiling over.

 

It is rarer, that we celebrate the formation of human relationships, but it has happened too. This couple, they came in separately for the next few weeks. But the tattooed one bought fish and the freckled one bought flowers every time, and finally, nearly a month later, they walked through the revolving door hand in hand, and we were overjoyed. There was the time with a flash mob proposal, and another with a mother receiving a call to be informed she was becoming a grandmother, those were wondrous moments to be shared with us too, but my particular favorite is this couple, who managed to test their bond and come back stronger. Silently, I wished them well, as they returned to their routine, gently bickering about what to get, this time tender and considerate.

 

Eventually, matching rings adorned their fingers that touched my rim, and later still a little one joined them. She was the most well behaved child I have experienced, and I later learned from the basket from the incident with them that it was this child that contributed to the tensions that day. I am very glad that they remained together, for it was clear that they loved this child of theirs very dearly. Even the freckled one softened to coo “hey, baby girl” at their daughter ever so often when she smiled their way. She didn’t arrive small and helpless like most humans do when they are first created, she walked in and sat happily in my seat, swinging her legs and singing songs. I adored her, and tried to smooth my wheels as much as possible for her, just so that she would have the best shopping experience she can have. These are important family rituals, and I wish her only the fondest memories of the ones she build.

 

They stopped showing up after several years. It is understandable, humans are moving more frequently now. The older carts hear that in other stores, they have old families who have been with them their whole lives, but the world has changed and will change again. I will remember the ones who stayed long enough to leave their impressions with us, and hope we have served them well. In particular, my favorite little family, I hope they stay together, strong, loving, wherever they go.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Find me on [tumblr](http://ohjustletmewriteinpeace.tumblr.com).


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